If you've been following me on Instagram, you may have seen bits and pieces of this spin come together: it was a really fun spinalong with Inglenook Fiber's group over on Ravelry. Spun from fluffly batts of a blend of wools, silks, and sparkle, I ended up with a (mostly) worsted weight yarn. This was a bit of an experiment for me, playing around with spinning thicker loftier singles than I frequently aim for for weaving, and I learned to chain ply! It was super fun and super satisfying. But now I'm stuck!

I want to knit this up into something just for me, I'm leaning towards a small shawl or scarf. My problem is that almost all of the patterns I have saved are for fingering weight yarn in larger yardage quantities than I have here. I have approximately 190 yards of mostly worsted weight yarn. I'm looking at the Quaker Yarn Stretcher pattern or at a more free form short row experiment, but I'm not entirely in love with either idea.... do any of you knitters have any suggestions for me?

The 8 of Cups, my first Tarot-inspired warp - is more than half threaded, which means we're getting so close to weaving I can almost taste it! These skeins of Seacell (and mini skein of handspun Sea Island Cotton) are the first weft; it will be a (deeply meaningful) personal piece for me.

You may notice that these skeins are not quite uniformly dyed. This is intentional. I've been experimenting with a dye technique that leads to this sort of beautiful inconsistency. Usually when I dye weft for a wrap, I want all the skeins to be as similar as possible so that there are no noticeable differences through the length of the piece. I figured a personal piece then was the best place to experiment with this technique on a weft, though I plan to use it more in the future on warps! I'm excited to see just how it weaves up.

When I lay out the yarn to be dyed, I lay the skeins out next to each other so that they create a sort of canvas. Then I use the dye to paint symbols, or words, or images onto that canvas. Then I fill in the blank space with the (other) colors for the yarn. This imbeds the meaning into the threads in a far-below-the-surface kind of way. In this instance I painted triskeles and moon sigils into the yarn. The images themselves will never be visible in the final piece of cloth, but the meaning is deep in every thread.

With the impending federal regulations governing baby wraps effective early next year, I'll be launching a new babywrap brand with a couple of dear colleagues. Our tagline for Cauldron & Cloth - chatter launching soon, keep an eye out! - is "woven with love and magic" and this is one of the ways I weave with magic. <3

These tea towels began as a custom wedding gift order for a bride who dreams of a kitchen with a lemon tree growing in a blue ceramic pot. They are woven in a variety of advancing twill variations that are intended to evoke the various glaze finishes or fine china patterns found on household ceramics.

I truly adore handwoven towels in the kitchen. They are long lasting, hard wearing, super absorbent, and bring a spark of beauty and joy to my day every time I see or touch one. I weave these with 100% unmercerized cotton for maximum absorbency and fluffy softness. This has the added benefit that you can toss them in with a regular load of laundry, set the water to hot, and then toss them in the dryer when they're clean!

I warped enough on this project for a few towels for the shop as well as the wedding collection. They absolutely flew out the door as fast as I could list them! I'm going to have to do a longer warp the next time! Tea towels are really fun and satisfying to weave. The rhythm is a welcome change from baby wraps: with a weft change after one yard instead of 5, they're quick and fun. I'd like to get a batch up in the shop in time for holiday shopping, tea towels are always a great gift!

What colors or inspirations would you most like to see hanging on the bar of your oven door or use to wipe up spills in your kitchen? Does your kitchen have a consistent color theme? Tell me all about it!